Belmar plan: Tax breaks for Sandy victims

Feb. 20, 2013

In this file photo, Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty stands beside Gov. Chris Christie (right) as they watch the first boardwalk piling being driven into the sand on the beach in January. / Mary Frank/Staff Photographer

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@kevinpentonAPP

BELMAR — Borough officials are considering granting tax breaks to property owners who repair or otherwise improve their homes or businesses in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

In what could serve as a potential model for other battered communities along the Jersey Shore, Belmar would have the authority to grant the five-year abatements by declaring virtually the entire community as an area in need of rehabilitation.

The Borough Council plans to consider the measure during its 6 p.m. meeting today.

“If someone is repairing their home after Sandy, why should their taxes have to go up for those improvements?” asked Mayor Matt Doherty.

Under the proposal, if a property’s value rose because of improvements made to it before the end of 2014, the owner would continue to pay taxes based on the current assessment, Doherty said.

Each year, the owner would pay taxes on an additional 20 percent of the added improvement value, Doherty said. For example, if a property’s assessment rose from $300,000 to $400,000 because of the improvements, the owner would pay taxes based on a $320,000 assessment after a year and on a $340,000 assessment after two years, he said.

Some Belmar officials considered the rehabilitation designation even before Sandy, as a way to spur economic development, but the proposal was never acted upon, Doherty said.

“Now there’s a real imperative,” Doherty said.

The state Department of Community Affairs has not received rehabilitation or redevelopment designation proposals that are directly related to Sandy, said Tammori Petty, a spokeswoman for the agency.

William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, lauded Belmar for its “out of the box” thinking in Sandy’s wake.

Dressel encourages Belmar and other municipalities to explore the details of a rehabilitation designation before making the change. Depending on how the borough fares, Dressel said the league may encourage other towns to follow Belmar’s lead.

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“The most important goal has to be to rebuild,” Dressel said.

Jim Maley, who chairs the league’s Economic Development Committee, noted that a rehabilitation designation gives a municipality not only the power to issue five-year tax abatements, but the authority to rewrite the town’s zoning laws by adopting a redevelopment plan.

While officials also would have the power to make zoning or other changes through conventional channels, the rehabilitation designation potentially speeds up the process and eliminates the need for the zoning changes to conform with a municipality’s master plan, Maley said. It does not give officials the power to condemn properties through eminent domain, he said.

“Towns in New Jersey now have to deal with new, very bad, never-before-seen issues,” Maley said. “You should arm yourself with all the authority you possibly can.”

Belmar Councilman James Bean, the lone Republican on the dais, said that while the tax abatement concept sounds like a great idea in Sandy’s wake, he is concerned about what else may come wrapped in a rehabilitation designation.

“Is there a way to do this without everything else?” said Bean, who plans to ask borough attorneys further questions about the proposal before making up his mind. “I just think it’s overkill.”

Belmar is also considering a redevelopment designation for its boardwalk and beachfront. As Belmar owns all the land, it is weighing the designation as a way to negotiate a long-term lease with a private company for how the land would be used , Doherty said.

Belmar is reconstructing the boardwalk this year, but is pushing off a decision on permanent improvements until 2014. This year, vendor and bathroom stalls will be mobile.

While companies would need to submit proposals under a formal process with the redevelopment designation, Belmar officials would be able to select the one they think is best , rather than simply the highest bidder, Doherty said.

“We don’t want to be required to pick someone who may not be the best fit for the town,” Doherty said.